Katy ISD Board of Trustees, Fix THIS: Portable Education vs. Permanent Football

Following up to my earlier posts, I decided to research the portable education infrastructure that Katy ISD is grappling with.  Ask yourself...is this the best we can do for our kids' public education in a district with vast resources?  I believe (I hope) this is why the November 5 bond did not pass.  KISD Board of Trustees - please prioritize the elimination of portable education first prior to providing for more permanent football.

Katy Elementary Schools

Fun Facts: 35 elementary schools, 27 schools with portable buildings representing 77% of the schools with temporary classrooms, and 174 portable buildings in all.  This information derived from pictures from Google Maps.

Fun Conjecture: Each portable building holds two classrooms (this I know because I attended classes with my daughter), each classroom holds ~20 kids, and lets assume 80% occupancy (this is a WAG), so that is 174 * 2 * 20 * 0.8 = 5,568 children in portable education facilities.  Of the 30,602 elementary students (derived from page 35 of this presentation), I estimate ~18% are attending class in portable buildings.  Ask yourself: how many elementary school students participate in extracurricular activities that would be hosted at the new proposed football stadium?  I am going to guess none, zero.  So, $70MM that benefits none of the 30,000 elementary students while 1/5 of them attend class in temporary facilities.  Hmm...

Katy ISD Board of Trustees: Reset Your Priorities

The voters spoke on November 5th and it was not even close.  Katy ISD voters, by a 55 to 45 margin, said no to extravagance over education.  The area's rapid growth has strained basic infrastructure.  In my last blog, I wrote about my experience in my daughter's overcrowded elementary school.  That school is not an exception.  In the coming weeks, I intend to document, for the benefit of Katy ISD Trustees, the scope of the problem.

This was never a battle over taxes, per se, or whether a new stadium was actually needed, or whether the trustees played loose with the justification.  A new stadium probably is justifiable.  A STEM center IS warranted (the Wall Street Journal just this morning has an article documenting MBA migration away from finance to tech).  The Ag Center is in keeping with the cultural roots of the area.  This is simply a statement about priorities.  Cover the basics first...adequate classrooms and adequate transportation.

I hope Katy ISD Board of Trustees got the message, but lets not rely on one ballot box defeat.

Open Letter to Katy ISD Board of Trustees: Your priorities are wrong

I live in Grand Lakes, a subdivision in the Katy Independent School District. We could live anywhere, but my wife and I choose to live here with our two daughters because of the outstanding school system in this far west Houston suburb.  My daughters attend Beckendorf Junior High and Alexander Elementary.  Our property taxes are high, but I accept it because I believe that the educational value for the dollar is good.  Both of these schools are outstanding.

On November 5th, 2013 voters will decide on a $99 million bond referendum to build a $69.5 million stadium, a $25 million agriculture science center, and a $4.5 million science, technology, engineering, and math education center.  Mr. Bill Moore, CFO of Katy ISD is quoted in the October 31, 2013 newspaper The Rancher to the effect that taxes will not have to be raised to pay for the bonds.  I have no reason to doubt the assertion.  Set aside for a moment then, that if true, it means that our tax rate is higher than it needs to be...

I walked around the Alexander Elementary campus numerous times yesterday, as I participated in the very rewarding Watch D.O.G.S. program sponsored by our local PTA.  I also sat inside my daughter's classrooms.  The 5th grade is mostly situated in outdoor portable buildings.  Alexander has 11 of them.  They are windowless and cramped.  What struck me the most was the disruption caused by kids having to get in and out of the classroom.  The doors, rightly, because the buildings are outside on the generally unsecured campus grounds, are automatically locked.  You need a key to get in to the classroom and also to the main building.  There is one key in each classroom, and so when kids need to go the the library, or the bathroom, etc., a student "key master" as I called him, goes with the kids so they can be let back in as a group.  Otherwise, someone is constantly opening the door to let students in.  Frankly, it was insane.  But I marveled at how the students managed to focus on their work.

Katy ISD Trustees, on this bond issue, you have your priorities wrong.  Is it really necessary to build a $70 million stadium when our kids' classrooms are like this?  I have a suggestion...allocate money to existing schools to get kids out of portable buildings, build a modest stadium with basic bleachers, and use the existing portables freed up from the schools for any indoor needs at the stadium.  My guess is that this can be done without raising taxes too, and it will delay the need to raise them some time in the future.

I voted no on this bond.  Do not interpret that vote as a failure to acknowledge facility needs (extracurricular needs included).  I voted no because the priorities were wrong.  Forego extracurricular extravagance and favor frugality.  Mr. John Eberlan, stadium design bond committee member, states that "some fans will be turned away during marquee play-off matchups due to capacity issues."  If that happens with something more modest, so be it.  Build facilities for education first and extra curricular activities second.